Enrolling him would have been easier if he were in Kindergarten. Until recently, not all schools in Chicago offered preschool, and afaik some still don't BUT rules were recently passed guaranteeing all 3 and 4 year olds in Chicago access to preschool (and you pay on a sliding scale, so even though it's PUBLIC SCHOOL you might still have to pay for it, albeit still WAY WAY WAY LESS than a private school). So the application process mainly involves finding a school that has openings. He's at his neighborhood school (the one we're in district for) which is not a BAD school but there's a better quality school that I'd rather he be in (although they apparently don't take kids out of district, even though all CPS schools are supposed to have that as an option). So there was the whole not knowing which school he'd be in (because which would have open slots), and not getting notified until a week after we were supposed to have been, and I have an Anxiety condition to begin with so... yeah.
In about two years we're going to have to start thinking about what "real" school he's going to go to. Are we going to go the high pressure route and try to get him tested for a different program? And if so, which one? STEM? International Baccalaureate? Gifted? Classical? It's a decision that needs to be made FAST because there's 3 or 4 times as many applicants as there are slots (literally!) so if you don't get in at the school's lowest grade the chances of getting in later are VANISHINGLY small. But then if all the "good" students are leaving neighborhood schools, is that betraying the neighborhood schools? If you stick with your neighborhood school and get really involved, can parents turn them around? (apparently, if they are affluent, educated, and white they can. other parent groups in schools have had less success). And, of course, there's the fact that you can't REALLY measure a child's IQ/potential until much older than gifted etc testing starts. (while there's few false positives, there's a LOT of false negatives... kids who are really smart and hard working and could be achieving a LOT more, but their potential doesn't show up when they're 5.)
There's such a VAST difference in educational opportunities in Chicago based ENTIRELY on geography (in part because Chicago is incredibly segregated). Students in Chicago public schools are doing very poorly and every year more and more of the school budget is cut and teachers are laid off. How is that helping? It's scary.
no subject
In about two years we're going to have to start thinking about what "real" school he's going to go to. Are we going to go the high pressure route and try to get him tested for a different program? And if so, which one? STEM? International Baccalaureate? Gifted? Classical? It's a decision that needs to be made FAST because there's 3 or 4 times as many applicants as there are slots (literally!) so if you don't get in at the school's lowest grade the chances of getting in later are VANISHINGLY small. But then if all the "good" students are leaving neighborhood schools, is that betraying the neighborhood schools? If you stick with your neighborhood school and get really involved, can parents turn them around? (apparently, if they are affluent, educated, and white they can. other parent groups in schools have had less success). And, of course, there's the fact that you can't REALLY measure a child's IQ/potential until much older than gifted etc testing starts. (while there's few false positives, there's a LOT of false negatives... kids who are really smart and hard working and could be achieving a LOT more, but their potential doesn't show up when they're 5.)
There's such a VAST difference in educational opportunities in Chicago based ENTIRELY on geography (in part because Chicago is incredibly segregated). Students in Chicago public schools are doing very poorly and every year more and more of the school budget is cut and teachers are laid off. How is that helping? It's scary.